I got up earlier than usual, mostly because I couldn’t sleep anyway. I tiptoed down the walkway and peered into the eating room. Father sat at the table, drawing on a scroll with a thin, charred piece of wood from the firepit.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I gasped.

Mother walked around me. “Son, what’s wrong?” The nervous look was still in her eyes.

“Nothing, Mother. You startled me, that’s all. Good light, Father,” I said, starting to enter the room.

Mother’s hand tightened around my shoulder. “School has been reopened, Nathaniel. Why don’t you study while I make first-meal?”

Father sat up straight and looked at her through narrowed eyes. “How did you know that?”

“A patrol just came by. H...

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